Jane Fishman: Rincon's Schnitzel Shack blends best of German, Thai

Jane Fishman

Sunday

Jun 24, 2012 at 12:03 AM

Schnitzel Shack blends best of German, Thai

For starters, you can't beat - or believe - the name of the new "it" restaurant: the Schnitzel Shack. (Try saying that five times in a row. Forget about "She sells seashells by the seashore" or "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." Now we have Schnitzel Shack).

Then there's the menu. You can't beat - or believe - it either: Check it out. It's Thai food and German food. In one restaurant. Under one roof. With German beer.

The slight problem is - and really, you gotta love this, too, the sheer chutzpah of it all - is the location. It's in Rincon on Ga. 21. BTW, that's Effingham County. But it's only a problem for people who: A) can't quite remember where Ga. 21 is; B) can never distinguish among Ga. 21, U.S. 17 or U.S. 80; or C) would never under any circumstance venture out of the historic district or Savannah proper.

Well, that's their loss. This place, the brainchild of Joachim (or Joe) and Wiparat (Pao) Weitzel, is the real deal.

That the restaurant is there at all is one of those serendipitous events that makes life so interesting. Joachim and Wiparat, now married, met in 1997 at a seminar in Thailand, where Wiparat, who is Thai, was the marketing manager for the company sponsoring the conference. Joachim, who was living in Damstadt, Germany, was the guest speaker. Both are chemists. The conference lasted a week, but the relationship between the two continued long-distance.

In 2000, Joachim got transferred to EMD Chemicals, in Port Wentworth, where he continues to be the research and development director. Wiparat moved to the area in 2006.

Wiparat wasn't sure what she would do in this country. She comes from a family of entrepreneurs - her grandfather owns a clothing store, her parents a grocery - so she knew she wanted her own company, but she thought it would be in fashion. In Bangkok she moved from working for the chemical company to designing, making and selling her own clothes, shoes and handbags.

But once she got to Savannah she said she felt a little intimidated. America, she said, did not look like it does in the movies. So she enrolled as a graduate student in SCAD's fashion department to get some confidence.

"But when I graduated, the economy was not good," she said.

She started wondering what people spend their money on and noticed they eat out. To get some experience in this field, she started working in a Thai restaurant in Savannah. At the same time she and her husband, both of whom like to cook, couldn't help but notice how much friends liked what they cooked when they had dinner parties at their house. Joachim cooked family recipes from his German heritage. Wiparat did the same.

"And that's when the idea hit," she said. "But then I had to twist his arm because basically he is still working full-time. I did all the market research and presented it to him, who pretended to be the banker."

Wiparat came up with the name.

"I thought 'shack' sounded Southern," she said.

The restaurant, which used to be a Quiznos, sits in a strip mall along with a nail salon, a State Farm office, an Enterprise-Rent-a-Car location and an auto sales shop.

They both like Marilyn Monroe - "she's an icon" - so Andy Warhol prints of the star brighten one wall along with family photos and the German flag on the other. Out of the seven-page menu, only one page includes Thai food.

Wiparat, whose fingernails are painted blue, says there are already so many Thai restaurants in the area but very few serving German food. There is one fusion dish - schnitzel with Thai sauce.

More people eat German than Thai; more men than women choose German. The music is German.

"Thai music is too quiet," she said. "We want this to be fun and lively."

About half the business is repeat customers. The rest come from Hilton Head, Richmond Hill, Savannah and tourists pulling off Interstate 95. The tables are six-tops, three seats on each side. And the seating is community-style.

"That was hard for people at first," she said. "But when they saw they had to wait they started sitting with strangers. Now they like it."